This Saturday, when the golden car of the 16th Century Basilica of Our Lady of Snows rolls out in Thoothukudi, with the participation of thousands of devotees of multiple faiths at the annual festival, a contingent of carpenters and artisans will silently heave a sigh of relief. For, they were toiling over the past seven months to get the car ready in time to roll for the 16th time in the history of the basilica.
Originally blessed as ‘Mother of Mercy Church’ on August 5, 1582, on a small street by the then Bishop of Kochi, the church was shifted to its current location by Jesuit priest Rev. Fr. Vigilius Mancy in 1713. Its first golden car festival was conducted more than nine decades later in 1806. Since then, the Basilica has witnessed 15 such celebrations. Now, the golden car carrying the statue of Our Lady of Snows is to be drawn along the streets of Thoothukudi on August 5.
When the first car of Our Lady of Snows was crafted in the beginning of 1800s by the master carpenters from Sri Lanka and Kerala, it cost about ₹1 lakh, an amount estimated to be the equivalent to the value of 7,500 sovereigns of gold then. After 1806, the golden car was drawn only in 1872, 1879, 1895, 1905, 1908, 1926, 1947, 1955, 1964, 1977, 1982, 2000, 2007 and 2013.
In September last year, when the old wooden car was taken out from the shed, the carpenters found its vital portions damaged beyond repair. It was decided to make the car afresh with teak wood, using the reusable portions of the old car.
In January this year, a team of expert carpenters from Thiruvananthapuram and another team from Aayikudi near Tenkasi were roped in to make the 53-foot-tall teak wood car, representing the 53 prayer beads of rosary dedicated to the Blessed Holy Mother Mary.
“The 12 wooden pillars, representing 12 Tribes of Israel as mentioned in The Old Testament, have been made again in a bigger size. The wooden statues of 12 Kings of Israel will also adorn the car,” says T. Maria Sylvester Fernando, 63, who heads the golden car decoration committee. He has rich experience in crafting the car in 2007 and 2013, along with his maternal uncle Remigius Fernando.
Golden papers from seven places
The most important part of crafting is the golden papers that are to be pasted on the car. “We sourced the metallic golden papers from seven places. We handed them to four persons, including Mr. Sylvester, to test their quality without revealing the place of their origin. They tested the quality of the golden papers by sticking them on the teak wood, placing them on the terrace of their houses under hot sun, and drenching them with water for three weeks. And, all of them zeroed in on the paper we purchased from Dubai,” said Rev. Kumar Raja, Rector, Basilica of Our Lady of Snows.
The golden paper sourced from Dubai was actually made in Japan. “We eventually purchased 16 boxes of metallic golden paper on May 6, the first Saturday of the month dedicated to the Blessed Holy Mother, through a Thoothukudi citizen, now living in Japan,” he said.
Once the metallic golden papers arrived, the team, led by Mr. Sylvester, a retired tally clerk of the VOC Port, started adorning the car with them. This work, which started with 60 persons, is being done by 15 workers as most of the vital works have been completed. “The fine-tuning will go on till August 4,” said Mr. Sylvester.
Besides, when the steering committee of the golden car festival decided to adorn the car with American diamonds, orders were placed for 7,500 stones — 10-mm American diamonds (1,000 numbers) 12-mm diamonds (3,500), 15-mm diamonds (2,900) and 17-mm diamonds (100). Around one lakh colour stones were also purchased from Jaipur and two lakh glass beads were sourced from Mumbai to make the car more attractive.
The statue of Our Lady of Snows has also been given a golden coat. The statue had originally been placed in the chapel of the Augustinian Sisters in Manila. Though St. Francis Xavier, who visited the shrine in 1542, wanted to install this statue in Our Lady of Snows Church, he died before realising his goal. After his death, the statue was sent by ship to Thoothukudi in 1555.
